It will be a big test Thursday, said Patrick Shannon. The loser of Thursday's game between Taney and Jackie Robinson West of Chicago is eliminated. The winner will play Las Vegas on Saturday for the U.S. championship.

"This group of kids will bounce back," Shannon said. One of those kids is his son, Tai. He credited Las Vegas, the first team from Nevada to make it to the world series, with making some great plays on balls hit by Taney players.

One of those he cited was a spectacular catch in right field by Alex Barker that prevented an extra base hit for Taney.

"Absolutely," was the response from Steve Bandura when asked if the team could overcome the loss. "They're fine," he said. "It was not a must-win game." They hit into bad luck, he said.

"This team never gives up," said his wife, Robin. "They have a lot of fight in them. It's the Philadelphia DNA in them." The Banduras' son Scott is Taney's catcher.

"It's a tough loss," said Kim Smith, whose son, Kai Cummings was Taney's starting right fielder. "The kids are tougher than the loss. No doubt they will be ready to play."

The mother of Mo'ne Davis was not in Howard J. Lamade Stadium when the game ended. Lakeisha McLean was not feeling well and returned to her hotel, other parents said.

Several of the parents said that Taney had lost two games before they got to the World Series, so the players had faced adversity before and came back.